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Come mid-December, Buford High School head football coach Mike Wells is in for a real gridiron treat.
Wells, a veteran of 28 years in prep coaching, will experience one of the top benefits of being a high school football coach in the Carolinas as the Whare Shoals native will serve as a coach on the S.C. Shrine Bowl staff.
The Shrine Bowl is the annual all-star football game, which features the top senior players in the Carolinas.

To turn a tragic event into something positive can be a catharsis. Sharon Furr knows. April 4, 2009, was a tragic day for Furr and her family.
Furr’s sister, Cindy Furr, and her 2-year-old niece, McAllister “Mackie” Furr, were on their way to church when one of two vehicles racing on S.C. 49 in the Lake Wylie community crashed into Furr’s car. Furr died on impact and Mackie not long after. Also killed was 13-year-old Hunter Holt, a passenger in the car that crashed into Furr’s vehicle.

Lancaster native Mike Oliver knew years ago as a mere teen he wanted to work in law enforcement.
He just didn’t know his love for enforcing the law would lead him to the top of his profession in the Palmetto State.
It has, as Oliver is now commander of the S.C. Highway Patrol after being named to the elite post in December by Leroy Smith, director of the S.C. Department of Public Safety.
“I never dreamed that I would one day be the colonel,” Oliver said. “I’m honored. I know it’s a great responsibility.”

Are you a warrior or a victim? That was the question Maj. Matt Shaw, undersheriff at Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, presented to those at a personal safety awareness class. A need for such a class was necessitated by the recent rage of violent attacks in Lancaster County.
Just days after Christmas, Kershaw resident Hope Melton was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and brutally beaten to death with a baseball bat. Her body was thrown in a desolate area known for coyotes and other animals.

The death of Buford junior varsity football player Seth Muennich rocked the eastern Lancaster County community.
A promising life was cut short by a car accident near the school last fall.
But Muennich’s name and the life he lived won’t soon be forgotten.
Buford High School officials want to make sure Muennich’s memory is always prevalent in the minds of Yellow Jackets’ fans.

According to CNN’s Moni Basu, the plight of folks living in Lancaster is likened to Tom Joad’s family in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Steinbeck documents the misery the Joads experience as they leave their foreclosed, dust-covered farm in Oklahoma to find work in Depression-era California.
“In hard-hit S.C. town, faith and finances fuel political decisions,” Basu equates the aftermath of Springs Industries’ demise to the Joads’ struggle as migrant workers.

2011 has passed, but University of South Carolina Gamecocks fans will long savor it for the sweet memories.
OK, some did spill over into 2012, which USC backers won’t moan about because it was a grand start to the new year.
But 2011 was a watershed year with a flood of fond memories.
Of course, the USC baseball team provided many thrills with its second straight national championship run.

Tomorrow, registered voters across the state will be able to exercise one of the most precious privileges democracy grants us – the opportunity to determine who will represent them in their government.
And though local voters have no local contests to decide, the first-in-the-South Republican primary will determine who will be on the Republican presidential ticket this fall.
Voters will choose between these GOP presidential hopefuls:
u Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
u Texas Congressman Ron Paul
u Texas Gov. Rick Perry

The Republican primary season is in high gear in South Carolina, evidenced both by the number of campaign signs popping up like mushrooms in area yards and the number of presidential hopefuls racing around the state.
This week, GOP presidential hopeful Texas Gov. Rick Perry made two stops in Lancaster County – both to talk with senior voters. He stopped Tuesday morning at Sun City Carolina Lakes, where he spoke at the Lake House, then stopped to have lunch with the Retired Council of the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce at Charley’s Cafe.

In more than two decades of service as the director of the Lancaster County Voter Registration and Election Commission Office, Cassie Stump has seen plenty.
During her 20 years with the county, Stump has seen voting go from the use of paper ballots to the now easier-to-use touch screens at the various county precincts.
“Now we have electronic voting equipment, which is so easy to us,” said Stump, who retired from her duties Dec. 30.